J.K. Rowling

Biography

Joanne Rowling (born July 31, 1965), who goes by the pen name J.K. Rowling, is a British author and screenwriter best known for her seven-book Harry Potter children's book series. J.K. Rowling was living in Edinburgh, Scotland, and struggling to get by as a single mom before her first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, was published. The children's fantasy novel became an international hit and Rowling became an international literary sensation in 1999 when the first three installments of Harry Potter took over the top three slots of The New York Times best-seller list after achieving similar success in her native United Kingdom. The series has sold more than 450 million copies and was adapted into a blockbuster film franchise. Rowling published the novel The Casual Vacancy in 2012, followed by the crime novel Cuckoo Calling under the pen name Robert Galbraith in 2013. In 2016, she released a play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and a movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Family
On December 26, 2001, J.K. Rowling married anesthetist Dr. Neil Murray at the couple's home in Scotland. They have two children together, David (born in 2003) and Mackenzie (born in 2005). Rowling has one child, Jessica (born 1993), from her previous marriage.

Early Life
A graduate of Exeter University, Rowling moved to Portugal in 1990 to teach English. There, she met and married the Portuguese journalist Jorge Arantes. The couple's daughter, Jessica, was born in 1993. After her marriage ended in divorce, Rowling moved to Edinburgh with her daughter to live near her younger sister, Di.

While struggling to support her daughter Jessica and herself on welfare, Rowling worked on her first book in the Harry Potter series. The idea for the book reportedly occurred to her while she was traveling on a train from Manchester to London in 1990.

Works

• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (supplement to the Harry Potter series) (1 March 2001)
• Quidditch Through the Ages (supplement to the Harry Potter series) (1 March 2001)
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard (supplement to the Harry Potter series) (4 December 2008)
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (story concept) (play written by Jack Thorne) (31 July 2016)
• Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists (6 September 2016)
• Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies (6 September 2016)
• Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide (6 September 2016)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film script) (19 November 2016)